Display rack



March 21, 1961 H. FOLAND DISPLAY RACK Filed July 2, 1959 Viiill I I: W.

ATTORNEYS DISPLAY RACK Howard L. Foland, Nevada, Mo. (Hillspeak, Eureka Springs, Ark.)

Filed July 2, 1959, Ser. No. 824,717

2 Claims. (Cl. 211-50) This invention relates to display racks, and more particularly to such racks of the disposable type for exhibiting cards or pamphlets.

In stores or public gathering places it is frequently desirable to make available to the public various kinds of literature or cards to be taken and carried away for future reference or use by persons interested in the subject matter. The display rack of the present invention is particularly useful in book shops, especially those which deal in religious or technical books. In this case the nature of the literature would be to describe in brief manner the nature and scope of the book, as by listing the table of contents and giving certain commentaries on the book. Other literature might include membership cards for joining clubs or applying for credit. The literature may also be of the type which deals with instructions on how to use an article for those who may be buying a new appliance and would need such instructions. The usual manner of displaying such give away literature is to place it on tables in stacked piles. However, such a' display has certain disadvantages, in that the stacked piles do not remain orderly for very long, since it is diflicult to remove one piece of literature from the top of a stack without disturbing the remainder of the stack. Display racks for such literature have been provided in the past, which are of a permanent nature and are usually hung on the wall and do not receive the attention of the people that is desired.

Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable display rack for exhibiting advertising literature in a manner which gets the attention of prospective buyers of the commodity being advertised, and makes it convenient for the buyer to avail himself of the literature.

A further object of the present invention is to provide disposable display racks which may be placed in close association with the articles being advertised in the literature displayed in the rack, and are conveniently seen from a position above or below the eye level of prospective buyers.

Still another object of the invention is to provide disposable display racks which are not easily tipped over.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art, from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figire 1 is a perspective view of the display rack of the present invention, showing literature stacked therein;

Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the blank from which the display rack is made; 7

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention; and

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view, taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Adverting now to the drawing, and more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, there is shown at the display States Patent 0 ICC rack, or stand, of the present invention, in which the literature 11 isdisplayed. The stand 10 is made from a blank 12 of cardboard or other like form-retaining material. The blank 12 is provided with base panels 17' and 1S, and display panels 19 and 20. The base panels 17 and 18 are delineated from the display panels 19 and 29 by the lines of fold 13, 14, respectively, and the lines of fold 15, 16 delineate the display panels 19, Zil. A slot 21 is provided at the intersection of the display panels 19, Zil, and has its ends spaced from the edges of the blank 12 to leave the tab sections 22 and 22'. To erect the blank 12, as viewed in Figure 3, to form the display rack 10, the base panels 17 and 18 are folded back on the panels '19, 20, along the fold lines 13, 14, respectively.

The blank is then folded back on itself again along the fold lines 15, 16 so that the display panels 19, 20 are brought together. The free edges 24, 24' of the base panels 17, 18 are brought together and an adhesive strip 23 is pasted over the outer surface of these base panels to complete the erection of the rack. The folding along the fold lines 13, 14 and 15, 16 is done by means of a heavy press to form a permanent crease, so that the base panels 17, 18 will form a triangular arch to provide a bottom for the rack which slopes downwardly on either side of the meeting place of the free edges of the base panels. The creasing along the fold lines 15, 16 assist in maintaining this arched bottom. This provides the base runners 25, 26 which give the rack a more secure footing, and this together with the triangular shape of the display rack, makes it less likely to be tipped over. The literature 11 may be placed in the rack with its bottom edges resting on the inclined area 27 where the literature is to be displayed at a lower level, or it may be placed so that it rests on the inclined surface 28, where the stand is to be above eye level. in the first instance the literature extends through the slot 21 in a direction of the wall 19, as shown at 29, which positions it for easy reading when the rack is below eye level, and when it is placed on the surface 28 it extends through the slot 21, as shown at 30, in the direction of the display wall 20, so that the portion extending beyond the slot can be easily read from a position below the rack. Also, when the literature is placed in the rack and therack is gently tapped, as by tapping it on a table, the literature is aligned as at 31 and 32, or stacked in ascending order from front to back so that a person wishing to avail himself of a piece of literature would simply put his thumb on the top of the stack and by sliding his thumb across the top of the stack, the last one would be moved away from the remainder of the stack, and he could simply pull it out of the rack. In like manner, when the literature is stacked on the inclined surface 28, the edges of the literature arrange themselves, as shown at 33, 34, and to withdraw a piece of the literature it is only necessary to move a finger of the hand from back to front across the stack and the front piece of literature will be moved away from the rest of the literature, so that it can be easily withdrawn. The stand 10, of course, is to be of less height than the literature to be displayed. The tabs 17, 17' of the blank form the lateral retaining means 35, 35' which prevent the lateral displacement of the literature, making it unnecessary for the racks to have end closures.

The display panels 19, 20 may be used for the printing of additional messages, or it may contain an invitation to take a piece of literature.

A modified form of the invention is shown in Figure 4, in which the slot 121 is extended a greater distance into the panel 119 than in the panel 120, so that a greater proportion of the indicia on theliterature can be viewed than in the first described embodiment of the invention.

In this modified form of the invention there is shown a base comprising three base panels 117, 118 and 118a. Thus, the bottom of the display rack is closed by means of a lap joint, the panel 118a being attached to the panel 117 by means of a staple 118 or by adhesive. In this case the literature 111 is placed on the surface 127 so that it will be tilted against the shoulder 121a of the slot 121. If it were placed on the surface '12-8, it would fall through the slot 121, so that this form of the invention is used for viewing at or below eye level.

The display racks of the present invention are easily and inexpensively manufactured, and when they have served their usefulness they are readily disposable. They may be assembled and collapsed and shipped in a relatively small package for use as needed.

While there has been disclosed in the foregoing description a practical embodiment of the display racks in accordance with the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that variations in the implementation of the concept of the invention are within the purview and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is,

1. A display container for exhibiting pieces of literature, cards and the like comprising, front and rear angularly disposed body panels having an opening therebetween defined by horizontal edges on each of the upper ends of said body panels, said opening being sufiicient to admit a plurality of said literature therebetween, front and rear base panels forming a triangular arch connecting v the lower ends of said front and rear body panels respectively, the front and rear base panels forming respectively first and second means which autmatically vertically offset and support said literature, said first means cooperating with said edge on said rear body panel to maintain the literature in a substantially upright and vertically ascending front to rear ofiset relationship, said second means cooperating with said edge on said front body panel to maintain the literature in a substantially upright and vertically descending front to rear relationship.

2. A display container for exhibiting pieces of literature, cards and like sheet articles comprising, front and rear spaced body panels having an opening-therebetween at their upper ends sufiicient to admit a plurality of said articles therebetween, triangular arch shaped front and rear base panels connecting thewlower ends of said front and rear body panels respectively, the front and rear base panels forming respectively first and second means which automatically vertically offsets and supports said articles whereby one article will protrude through said opening beyond an adjacent article, said first means cooperating with means positioned on a rearward body panel to t maintain the sheet articles substantially upright and in a first vertically oifset position, and said second means cooperating'with means positioned on a forward body panel to maintain the sheet articles substantially upright and in a second vertically otfset position.

References tilted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

